Education

Superintendent Adam Fine presented the district’s latest list of needs last week. The proposed work totals about $35 million, leaving just under $30 million for items the community might want to add.

At community forums this month, the Montauk School Board made the case for a revised renovation bond that residents will vote on Dec. 9. “Realistically, this school building is the only institution in Montauk that only serves the year-round residents. . . . That feels like a really worthwhile investment,” said Joshua Odom, the superintendent and principal.

The Springs School held a pep rally recently to celebrate the middle schoolers’ accomplishments and boost school spirit. 

Stony Hill Stables in Amagansett opened its fall-winter scholarship program this month, an opportunity for young people with a passion for horses to learn how to ride.

Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade,” from 2018, and “Honey Bee,” a 2017 short film by Jack Kendrick, will be shown on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Sag Harbor Cinema, followed by a panel discussion on adolescent anxiety and social media.

For kids and teens this week, there's a morning of artmaking inspired by peace at the Children's Museum of the East End, the Young Birders Club at the South Fork Natural History Museum, and a therapy dog at the East Hampton Library.

In Montauk this fall, the girls field hockey team put on quite a show, finishing the season 9-0-1 to go undefeated for the first time since 2018.

The Springs School held its annual Idiom Contest in the big gym for students in sixth through eighth grades recently.

As one gallery at Guild Hall opens an exhibition Saturday of works by the pioneering artist Robert Rauschenberg, who would have turned 100 this year, the other will be filled with student work inspired by Rauschenberg’s innovation. 

The Sag Harbor School Board has officially adopted a $40 million capital improvement bond that residents will vote on in January.

The Montauk School’s People as Reading Partners program kicked off on Oct. 22 with a day featuring a roster of readers including school administrators, surfers, authors, farmers, fishermen, retired teachers, and a police officer.

Springs School students participated in Red Ribbon Week recently. This event is a way to remind students of the dangers of drug use and the importance of staying away from them.

The East Hampton Town Planning Board reviewed and applauded a “substantially revised site plan” for Project Most’s headquarters that saves the historic Neighborhood House on Three Mile Harbor Road rather than demolishing it, as previously planned. 

Some already know that the PTA raises money for field trips and runs book fairs, but its members do that and so much more at Springs School. 

In her latest column, our teen book reviewer recommends three novels by one of her favorite mystery authors, Natasha Preston.

The Bridgehampton Lions Club’s Carving Contest, a tradition anticipated by adults and kids alike, is moving to a new location and a new day of the week this year: Sunday at the Corwith House.

At the first public workshop to discuss a $64 million capital improvement bond that the East Hampton School District expects to put on the May ballot, the focus was mainly on needs. The focus at the second meeting, on Oct. 15, shifted to wants.

Halloween activities abound this week, from parades to parties to family fun days and even a movie night.

The second annual Spooky-Palooza, a week of family-friendly Halloween-themed activities in Sag Harbor, will begin this weekend. 

Springs School's fall sports season is going strong.

The Church in Sag Harbor has invited educators and school administrators to an open house next Thursday, when staff will offer an overview of existing arts enrichment opportunities for students and schools and detail the new initiative set to begin next September.

On Wednesday at 6 p.m., the East Hampton School Board will hold the second of four public meetings to gather ideas from the community as the district prepares to put a $64 million capital improvement bond on the May 2026 ballot.

CMEE and John Jermain celebrate birthdays, and the East Hampton Library welcomes teens for snacks, crafts, and SAT prep.

Five months after Montauk voters rejected a $38 million capital bond for the district’s nearly century-old school, the superintendent and a member of the school board pitched a somewhat scaled back proposal that they plan to put to voters via a December referendum.

As the East Hampton School District begins over the next few years to retire the debt from improvement and expansion bonds that built the high school science wing, cafeteria, and new district offices, it finds itself at what the assistant superintendent for business is calling “an ideal time and a once-in-a-generation time to be able to undertake a significant amount of work” with a “net zero” impact to taxpayers. 

Citarella raised $132,170.64 for the East Hampton Fund for Children this past summer through a campaign in which shoppers at its gourmet markets in East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Southampton were encouraged to donate to the fund or purchase tote bags at checkout. 

Last week marked a turning point for two early childhood care providers in East Hampton Town. The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center celebrated the first week of a new program for babies between 12 and 18 months, and Project Most received an emergency grant to cover operational costs at the Montauk Child Care Center, which serves children as young as 6 weeks old. 

Friday is homecoming at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, and students will be celebrating all day long.

Coming up: Big Truck Day at the Children's Museum of the East End and a plethora of offerings at the East Hampton Library for kids and teens.

It’s back to school season and the two books featured in this column are perfect autumn reads.